Stock Island businessman operating illegally

A Stock Island man was arrested last Wednesday after detectives allegedly found he was not complying with the law when it comes to his secondhand dealer’s license.

50 year old Paul Ollariu is the owner of a business called We Buy Gold We Pay More, located on Front Street, Stock Island. On Friday, Sheriff’s Detective Dave Chavka, along with two Key West Police detectives, went to the business to inspect his records and to ensure he was complying with state law.

Their inspection showed Ollariu was only keeping a hand written log of transactions, instead of the computerized records he is required to keep. It appears he was also not in compliance with the requirement to obtain identification and fingerprints of people selling items to him. The scale he used to weigh the items being sold was also not calibrated as required, nor was he holding the items he purchased for the required 15 days.

Ollariu admitted to being trained on the computerized pawn program called RAPID in June of 2012, so he was aware of the requirement that transactions be recorded in that system. His handwritten log showed a total of 24 transactions between November and February which were not in compliance with the law.

Ollariu was arrested and charged with 24 counts of violation of Florida State Statute 538.04, regarding second hand dealer’s licenses.

The Sheriff’s Office wants to remind all businesses holding a second hand dealer’s license that detectives will be periodically inspecting to make sure the businesses are complying with all record keeping requirements. Anyone with questions regarding this issue can call the Sheriff’s Office in their area and ask to speak with the detective sergeant assigned to that area.